State lifts Ketchikan's special education sanctions

KETCHIKAN (AP) -- The state Department of Education and Early Development lifted sanctions against the Ketchikan School District last week.

Commissioner Shirley Holloway wrote Superintendent Harry Martin announcing that the district was in compliance with special education regulations.

The district was sanctioned by the state in November 1998 for violating the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act.

Holloway's letter said some areas of the district's program needs improvement. The district must increase collaboration between people working on students' individualized education plans, better integrate students with disabilities into the general school population, reduce reliance on self-contained special education classrooms and strengthen the district intervention process, Holloway said.